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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24493453">Venture to the Deep</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schreibmaschine/pseuds/Schreibmaschine'>Schreibmaschine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Ocean Exploration, Elijah Kamski &amp; Gavin Reed are Siblings, Elijah wants to better his relationship with Gavin, Fails a bit, Likely slow to update, M/M, Mermaids, Merman!RK900, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Technically not an AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:08:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24493453</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schreibmaschine/pseuds/Schreibmaschine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Revolution Cyberlife struggles to keep existing. Elijah Kamski tries to set a new course for it as a service provider and has his first major breakthrough in deep sea exploration. Hoping to bond with his stranged brother, he takes Gavin on board his newly build research vessel, not expecting the Detective to be far more interested into the secrets of the deep.<br/>My late entry for Mermay 2020, updated most mondays.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Trip to the deep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! This fic will be updated most Mondays, for more information feel free to check out my tumblr @fandom-necromancer!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gavin stood at the railing looking down on the water passing by. From one horizon to the next: nothing but water. It had been nice the first few days, but now he was slowly growing bored of the never changing view. He sighed. 'Oh, Gavin, come with me on that boat trip, you could use some vacation!’, Gavin mock-impersonated his brother. ‘I bribed your co-workers into telling me how many vacation days you took! That just isn't healthy! Come on, it will be fun, just you, me, a few Chloes and a shitton of nerds. Definitely won't be boring at all and conversation won't suck ass...' He sighed, returning to his normal voice: 'And no, Chloe, I don't need anything, I'm fine. <em>Thank</em> you.'</p><p>The android had walked up behind him and was surprised the man had even noticed her. Chloe had been very quiet, but he was a Detective after all. He knew when he was being watched. She opened her mouth to speak up, but closed it again, as Elijah climbed up the stairs to join them.<br/>
'You know brother, you could lighten up a little', the reinstated CEO chuckled, stepping next to Chloe and joining Gavin at the railing as the Detective didn’t bother turning around. 'You know a lot of people would die to get a chance like this.'<br/>
'Yeah, a lot of scientists', Gavin reminded him. 'And if it happened to miss your notice, as much as mum and dad would have liked it, I am not one of those.'<br/>
'Oh, but you are curious, aren't you?', Elijah teased.<br/>
Gavin just scoffed: 'Says the man that bought himself in too.'<br/>
'Oh come on. I invest in their work. I practically build them this ship, filled to the brim with the newest tech. I have the right to see what I invested in.'<br/>
'And use it as a fancy cruise ship instead of letting those nerds do what they need to.'<br/>
'Gav, I'm here for Cyberlife technically. I <em>am </em>literally one of these nerds. And you are still my assistant, if you remember correctly.'<br/>
'Yeah, like hell I am. What does Cyberlife even want from the ocean?'</p><p>‘What science always wants: Knowledge and technical advancements. Make the world better.’<br/>
‘And then get this knowledge stolen by someone who makes money from it. Like you.’<br/>
Elijah sighed. ‘Gavin, I never stole anything. Me and Amanda worked on androids for years. Dedicated out entire live to the cause. It is only just we get to make some money out of it.’<br/>
‘She is dead, Eli.’<br/>
‘And we are very sorry about that’, Gavin’s brother said, a threatening tone underlying his voice. Enough so Gavin knew better than to press more on that topic.<br/>
‘Fine…’ He looked to the sky just to finally see something different than the endless waves. ‘Then tell me. What is Cyberlife’s real interest in all of this?’</p><p>Elijah bopped his head acknowledging the change. ‘Well, there is nothing more to gain with android technology. Now that that’s all one big pile of moral dilemmas, we have to change course. And Cyberlife still is the leading force in robotics. We are still needed, we just have to convince the world of that.’<br/>
‘And who would that be?’, Gavin asked disbelievingly.<br/>
‘Well, this ship is equipped with the newest tech. Your friend, Connor’, he stopped and smiled as Gavin’s face went sour. ‘He is one of the new prototypes equipped with an analysing cartridge that can be used for more than just police work. Software used for android navigation and movement control can be used for unmanned drones, too. And that is only scratching the surface of everything we could deliver. But as you are dying to say:’<br/>
‘Sounds pretty phcking boring’, Gavin finished. ‘Yeah, right. You want to keep living in your mansion and invest in fancy boats, so you are grabbing for straws to stay afloat.’<br/>
Elijah pouted. ‘That’s a bit pessimistic, wouldn’t you say?’<br/>
‘I really don’t care, Eli. I use this cruise like you suggested I should: A vacation. But I promise you: When we get back to Detroit, I won’t suddenly have a scientific epiphany and I won’t suddenly love technology and Cyberlife. If you are asking me, that company took my brother from me and nearly my job, too.’</p><p>Elijah swallowed. He knew that argument would come up eventually. ‘Gav, I’m sorry I left you in there…’<br/>
‘Don’t.’ Gavin turned around and held up his hand to stop him. ‘I don’t want to hear it, okay? You are still my brother. I have some nice memories of him, when we were kids. I can’t just get back to normal after you left for years, not even caring what happened to us. To me. I understand what happened and why you did it. I can’t forgive you, but I can forget. And we can try to find back to each other again. If not, that’s fine.’<br/>
‘God, Gav, since when are you suddenly reasonable?’, Elijah chuckled, not comfortable with the serious talk at all.<br/>
‘Don’t worry. Won’t happen again.’</p><p>Silence hung heavy over them and they lost themselves in the sound of the waves and the wind rushing past. Chloe was the only one present that wanted to break the silence apparently, but instead of talking, she walked over to Elijah and elbowed him in the side. ‘Tell him, you idiot!’<br/>
Gavin looked up, smirking. ‘What is it?’<br/>
‘Urgh, Gavin I… Fine. I wanted to show you something because I know you get bored easily. And I know you still drive that old non-automated car and that old bike and that you really like figuring out these machines… Well, I think I can show you something you would be interested in after all. It will be fun!’<br/>
Gavin grimaced. His brother’s idea of fun was vastly different to his. But it would at least be a distraction for a few hours.</p><p>He followed his brother deep down into the ship. Gavin had taken to exploring it out of pure boredom, but he soon was somewhere he had never been before. “Access only for authorised personnel” still had an effect on him, even if he was technically authorised in this case. After walking through what had to be half the ship, Elijah stopped in front of a door that was designed to be a bulkhead. The man pushed the button to open the sliding metal door and they entered a large hall. It was illuminated by bright lights on a movable crane overhead that held up a tiny submarine. It hovered over one of two large basins that held sea water inside.</p><p>‘You are shitting me!’, Gavin called out into the hall, startling a few mechanics of the crew. But Gavin didn’t care. From all “fun” things Elijah could possibly want to show him, this was the last he expected. A bit quieter he talked to his brother: ‘You can’t be serious. You have a harbour inside your ship?’<br/>
‘Not really. Just two pools that can be opened when the ship stopped.’<br/>
‘And this submersible? Damn, it looks like a union of the <em>Alvin </em>and <em>Jago.</em> How on earth…’<br/>
‘Told you, robotics is useful for more than androids.’ He laughed. ‘I’m happy to see I do remember correctly! You had this phase where you were super interested in marine exploration. I had to watch all these documentaries with you. I remember mom and dad encouraging you to pursue that and gifting you a lot of stuff you never touched. God, they were angry.’<br/>
‘Can we maybe not talk about mom and dad?’, Gavin asked, hardly taking his eyes from the orange vehicle. ‘I really don’t want to hear from them ever again in my life.’<br/>
‘Yeah, okay’, Elijah agreed. ‘But what bothers me is… Why did you never pursue that career? You clearly were fascinated by it.’<br/>
‘Eli, I have always been a realist’, Gavin explained, walking around the submersible. The front was taken up by a thick glass orb, whereas the back housed without doubt machinery and Oxygen tanks. He could see a thin line on the hull, recognising the emergency detachment site he had obsessed all these years ago with the <em>Alvin</em>. ‘There is little job opportunity and I didn’t want to be in debt before even starting my life.’<br/>
‘Wow. Now who’s the one solely focussed on money, huh?’<br/>
‘I like my job, okay? Now tell me more about this submergible!’</p><p>‘I guess I know less about it than you. It has room for up to three people, can be used for three days until the oxygen runs out and is has a lot of sensors the scientists installed. Cyberlife build it according to their needs, so I wasn’t involved that much with the project. But it will be lowered into the water and is ready to go.’<br/>
‘Okay, Eli, from everything you ever showed me, this is by far the coolest.’<br/>
Elijah sighed. ‘And people say creating life is the biggest achievement for humanity…’<br/>
‘Oh, shut up, please tell me, we can get a look inside!’</p><p>‘Sure.’<br/>
‘What, really?’<br/>
‘Of course. But you would have to wait until tomorrow. Then they are starting an expedition down to the sea floor to get data on something they call black smokers. Apparently, that’s the big thing in marine biology, I wouldn’t know.’<br/>
‘No way…’<br/>
'I'm Elijah Kamski. I can bribe you on board of my own ship, don't worry.'<br/>
‘Hell, you know that would be a dream come true?’<br/>
‘Anything for my little brother.’<br/>
‘I can’t believe it.’<br/>
‘You better do. I will go talk to them, then. See you tomorrow?’<br/>
‘Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah!’ He didn’t look as Elijah walked out of the hall smiling. He was too focussed on the submersible, walking around it and looking at it from all angles. His eyes halted at the black letters on the bow. RK900. Of course, his brother would give it a lame ass number instead of a real name. Well, it didn’t matter how it was named as long as he could take it for a ride.</p><p>-</p><p>Surprisingly enough as he entered the mess, Gavin was in an exceptionally good mood. This trip had just changed from boring to worthwhile. Hell, he could endure weeks of boredom if that meant he could play mouse in his childhood dream.</p><p>The mess was filled with people. It was amazing to see how many people Elijah had gotten on board the ship. It was unusual for all of them to gather anytime other than for dinner and Gavin rarely joined them then, unable to break his habit of avoiding people. The scientists were alright though. He had spoken to them in the beginning, played his role of being Elijah’s assistant too badly to be convincing. But they had just laughed as he had come clean and nothing had really changed. If anything, they asked him about how policework during the revolution had been and after he had told them about his reserve towards the whole thing despite his hatred for androids they had just nodded and went on keeping a spot open on the table for him. Not that he understood a lot of the things they talked about. But just sitting there listening was fine with him.</p><p>As expected, they had kept a seat for him and while he was taking his tablet from the cook, they spotted him and waved him over.<br/>
‘Gavin! How is it going?’, a man with a deep voice and dark hair greeted him. James, Gavin remembered. He was one of the more vocal ones trying his hardest to integrate him in their talks.<br/>
‘Fine. Just got a tour of the submersible down there.’<br/>
‘Oh, yes, I heard you are coming down with us tomorrow?’ That was Lucy, an extraordinary friendly woman, short but stronger than you’d expect. She reminded him of Tina, except she lacked the sass and would never even think of punching someone.<br/>
‘I hope I don’t take any space you would have used otherwise’, Gavin asked ready to apologise and poked his dish with the fork.<br/>
‘Nah, we were going down there with two people anyways. Me and Phillip. We planned on taking some gear, so it could get crowded. I hope you don’t mind.’<br/>
‘No!’, Gavin was quick to answer. ‘No, not at all.’<br/>
‘Why is an “assistant” that interested in accompanying us on a dive?’, Phillip smirked and winked as he said the word “assistant”. ‘Not much to see down there except fish and the sea floor.’<br/>
‘Hmm, it was a childhood dream of mine. I was really interested in marine biology for a while. Guess everyone is obsessing over something, right?’<br/>
Lucy nodded with a grin. ‘Some just never stop their “phase”. That’s basically what science is, right?’ The others laughed. ‘Maybe I can tell you a thing or two on our way down. Not really a marine biologist, but you learned a thing or two, even if you go down the single-celled path.’<br/>
‘That would be nice’, Gavin said a bit overwhelmed, having thought to meet them upset about him sabotaging their expedition. ‘Err, Phillip, I’m sorry, you told me already, but I forgot again. What are you looking into?’<br/>
‘Geology’, the man answered. He had dark skin and an accent Gavin couldn’t quite pin down. Maybe Europe? Maybe South America? He couldn’t know and didn’t care enough to ask. ‘Mapping the ocean floor mainly. We know less about the seabed than the topography of Mars. There were some breakthroughs the last years, but there is still a lot to discover.’<br/>
Gavin nodded, not really grasping what was so interesting about sand on the bottom of the ocean, but maybe he just didn’t know enough about it. He definitely wouldn’t say anything in that direction to Phillip.<br/>
‘Funny how the only Marine Biologist didn’t want to go down with us’, the man added then, looking at a woman Gavin hadn’t seen that often and who rarely talked at all.<br/>
‘Very funny. I get my time; we are just not in the right spot at the moment. I will be occupying it next week, so warm the seats for me, will ya?’</p><p>They continued talking, drifting over to their experiments and who had taken which lab. Gavin zoned out more with every spoken word he didn’t understand and concentrated on eating. He still couldn’t believe tomorrow at this time he would have been on a real deep-sea mission. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow.</p><p>-</p><p>The morning was cold, but Gavin stood at the railing regardless to watch the endless ocean. It had been a habit of him to eat his breakfast up here on deck. Their ship had dropped anchor and below the last preparations for their dive were made. Gavin didn’t want to be in their way until they were ready to start, so he just stood there and looked down into the dark water. How deep would it be? How dangerous was it? He had always been fascinated by the ocean, but ultimately always settled on the opinion humans didn’t belong in there. Cruising it on a ship was fine, swimming on a beach, too. But submerged in there? He didn’t fear it, it just didn’t feel right. He shook his head to get rid of these thoughts. That was just his anxiety urging him to chicken out of everything. He would go down there, enter the submersible and then watch the scientist gush over samples of bacteria and methane-gas or something. It would be nice, and he could revisit something he had once loved. It would be nice.</p><p>As he walked down the stairs and entered the hangar as he had with Elijah the day before, Lucy and Phillip were already waiting for him.<br/>
‘Right on time!’, Phillip greeted him. ‘And? Excited?’</p><p>The Submersible – Gavin refused to use the key smash Eli had decided to name the thing – had been lowered into the water and a retractable runway allowed access to the vehicle.<br/>
‘Yeah, I guess’, Gavin smiled and followed Lucy to the ship. She showed him the ladder to climb to the top hatch.<br/>
‘You have to go first to sit in the back part until we entered. It’s pretty narrow in there and I want Phillip to secure the hatch as he knows what he is doing – no offense there.’<br/>
‘None taken’, Gavin nodded and started climbing. From the hatch there was a short ladder down into the ship and he had to look around to orientate himself. The cockpit was full of tech to steer the submersible and on top of that the two scientists had deposited their gear there. Mostly computers and checklists, but Gavin could keep his curiosity in check as Lucy was already descending.</p><p>He quickly moved into the narrow space in the back of the ship and watched Lucy walk over to the two front seats. Then there was a thunk from the hatch Gavin would have expected to be louder. Phillip turned the wheel to lock the hatch and followed Lucy, gesturing Gavin to follow. He took the back seat, leaving the scientists to do their jobs. Phillip took the radio from over his head, while Lucy clicked herself through a few menus. Gavin sat there, watching anxiously how the water gently lapped against the large porthole from their movement. Soon they would be submerged with nothing but the endless, cold ocean around them.</p><p>‘Submersible 1, RK900, ready for dive. Reporting system check.’<br/>
Lucy took over, flipping back the pages on her clipboard and laying it on the console next to her.<br/>
‘All systems clear, ready to dive. Waiting for go.’<br/>
The speakers clicked on and to Gavin’s surprise, he heard Eli’s voice over it: ‘Submersible 1, RK900, you are ready to go. Opening the sea-gates now.’</p><p>Lucy started filling the ballast tanks with water so they would float rather than swim and the ship sank into the pool. At the same time beneath them the gates opened connecting the hangar to the open ocean. The submersible descended at a steady pace letting them sink further down. Gavin got one last glance at the ship, then it disappeared above them.<br/>
‘So far so good’, Lucy grinned. ‘We are now out of there. Welcome to the ocean, Gavin. A vast space of nothing unless you are lucky enough to find a living thing somewhere.’<br/>
‘And nothing to do until we get to the bottom of the ocean’, Phillip chuckled. ‘Then a few samples to take, some footage to make and we’re back up there for dinner. Is it what you expected?’<br/>
Gavin was on the edge of his seat. ‘More than that. This is really exciting.’<br/>
‘Come on, don’t play dumb. We all expect big coral reeves or a whale to pass by. Don’t tell me darkening shades of blue have you excited.’<br/>
‘Yeah, I mean it isn’t that exciting. But to think there is water for miles in every direction and we don’t know what is out there?’<br/>
‘Hmm yeah, has most people frightened’, Phillip shrugged. ‘The vastness of the ocean is something you can easily be afraid of.’<br/>
‘Wouldn’t admit I’m not’, Gavin answered. ‘But we are safe in here. Solid steel and air for days.’<br/>
‘True.’</p><p>They talked a bit about their experiments and how deep they already were, while Gavin was just staring out of the window. At some time, it had gotten so dark outside they had activated their headlights. There wasn’t much to see except a few air bubbles and particles but that had something mysterious to it too.</p><p>As they finally reached the ocean floor, Gavin was the first one to make something out.<br/>
‘Oh, we can see something.’<br/>
‘Yeah, finally it gets interesting for us, too.’, Phillip nodded and straightened in his seat. He took the joysticks in his hands as Lucy next to him was changing their speed and direction. Two robotic arms extended under the porthole while the lights brushed over sand and rocks on the ocean floor. Gavin still couldn’t believe any of it.<br/>
Lucy steered the submersible while Phillip concentrated on pushing rocks to the side and getting samples of the ocean floor into a small cup on the end of one arm. He retracted the arm and stood up from his seat to walk to the backside of the ship.<br/>
‘What are you doing?’, Lucy asked, but Phillip disregarded her. ‘Just making sure the samples made it to the compartment. Let Gavin use the front seat for a while, it has a better view.’<br/>
‘When the android-man told us the samples get there, they get there. And we are not a tourist ship’, she played the role of the strict woman. ‘Now that that’s done with, come over here and enjoy the view’, she laughed. Gavin nodded and climbed into the front seat. The view from here indeed was better, the window being built to enlarge the field of view for the two persons in the front. Gavin was still taking in the view as there was a high-pitched sound.</p><p>‘Was that a whale?’, Phillip asked from behind and Lucy shrugged. ‘What would you say, documentary kid?’<br/>
Gavin looked at her pointedly. ‘Hey, I wasn’t that nerdy as a kid, I just liked it. But nah that didn’t sound like anything I would know.’<br/>
‘That doesn’t say much, no one can know all their sounds, there are so many different vocalisations to- Woah!’</p><p>A dark shape had passed just at the edge of the space their headlights lit up.<br/>
‘Holy shit’, Gavin exclaimed and Phillip was immediately back in the cockpit on the third seat.<br/>
‘What did I miss?’<br/>
‘I don’t know’, Lucy answered. ‘Sounded like a whale, but too fast. A shark? A squid? No clue, but have the cams running!’<br/>
There was that haunting high-pitched sound again that had Gavin instinctively pressed against the back of his seat.<br/>
‘A Baluga maybe? They are quite fast.’<br/>
‘Yeah, but not in this depth…’</p><p>While they argued about it, Gavin kept an eye out for the creature. Then suddenly it appeared again.<br/>
‘There!’, Gavin said, pointing in the direction but scraping one of the joysticks. One of the robotic arms jolted forwards and the screeching sound was audible again.</p><p>This time Gavin had no time to react, as the shape surged towards them in a flush of darkness and colour. All he heard was a terrible noise of something piercing through the glass in front of him and a sharp pain on his chest. He looked down to see some sort of glowing spear just barely touching him but clearly cutting through his clothes and into his skin. He looked back up to the shattered porthole and a figure behind it pulling at the spear. All he saw was teeth and a flicker of blue, then the spear moved, and he screamed as it dug a little deeper.</p><p>‘To the back, quick!’, he heard Lucy scream and remembered the emergency detachment procedure. Of course. With the front window compromised, they were as good as dead if they didn’t make it there. But he couldn’t move, there was still a massive spear in the way. Whatever was on the other side pulled at the weapon and finally Gavin had enough space to let himself fall from the chair. He ignored the blood on his shirt and tried to get back to his feet, as behind him there was the nasty sound of glass breaking and water rushing in full force. It flushed him further in and at first, he thought that to be his rescue. But Lucy and Phillip had done the only right thing already and closed the bulkhead in an instinctual reaction. Gavin was crashed against it by the mass of water, then the current pulled him back towards the cockpit. The hit had been hard enough for him to only hear sharp whistling and see black blotches overlaying his vision and he thought hard against the darkness grabbing him. He had no idea how to get out of this one, but he knew he wanted to survive. He felt the sharp pain from the broken glass against his arms and vaguely registered he must have left the ship with the water. He saw the blinking lights of the detached back part of the submersible ascend and wished he had never entered the damn thing in the first place. Then the dark blotches came more prominent and conquered his vision.</p><p>He fell unconscious to a pulsing red light and strong hands at his hips.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Strange Creature</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Gavin wakes up back aboard the ship, facing a terrible headache and unbelievable news.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Last Chapter:<br/>Gavin was able to hitch a ride with the submersible RK900. The only problem? Reality is much more dangerous than his childhood dreams.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 2 – A Strange Creature</strong>
</p>
<p>When he woke up again, it was a slow process. He didn’t really know when he was awake, he only noticed when the headache set in. Without opening his eyes, he groaned and pulled a grimace. He hadn’t been drinking, right? Also why was his skin all itchy and his body so heavy? Something had happened, he knew that, but it just wouldn’t come to his mind…</p>
<p>‘Mr. Reed?’ It was a distant voice, but it made Gavin groan again. ‘It’s Detective’, he grumpily responded pushing past his lips that didn’t really want to move. Still his voice was slurred and rasping, but he couldn’t find the energy to care. ‘Just five more minutes.’ He hated people waking him up when he was obviously hangover.<br/>There was a relieved chuckle somewhere even further away and Gavin realised there had to be more than one person in his room. That was near impossible. Annoyed by the lack of information, he finally opened his eyes. The sudden light made him blink tears away and he wanted to lift his hand to shield his eyes. But his arm never made it far, as it got tangled up in something and someone stopped him by his wrist.<br/>‘Don’t panic, Detective, you made it back on board. You are in the sickbay, but you are stable. You had symptoms of DCS, but you made it through the worst already.’<br/>‘Symptoms of what?’, Gavin asked, trying to sit up, but abandoning that plan as his head and joints protested.<br/>‘Decompression sickness. Are you still experiencing an itchy feeling like insects crawling your skin?’<br/>Gavin nodded. ‘Yeah, on the chest and face. Also, my arms ache. But how…’<br/>Then he finally remembered. The submersible being attacked, being pulled out by the current with the detached part rising to the surface. ‘How did I even make it up here? The submersible was in no condition to get me back up and I’m not exactly a diver.’</p>
<p>‘You wouldn’t believe me if I said it’, the person from before spoke up and Gavin identified her as Lucy. So, they made it up. ‘We are sorry we left you down there.’<br/>‘Nah, it’s alright’, Gavin was quick to say. ‘Was the right decision. But how did I make it up here?’</p>
<p>‘A creature brought you up.’ That was a third voice. It was starting to get crowded in there.<br/>‘A creature?’, Gavin asked as Chloe came into view, stepping next to the bed.<br/>‘Yes. But as Mrs. Pendon already said, you won’t believe us until you saw it yourself. It looks every bit like a mermaid.’<br/>Gavin stared at them. He may have Decompression Sickness and a healthy concussion, but he still knew when he was being fooled. ‘Yeah, gonna call bullshit on that.’<br/>‘When you feel better you can go see it yourself’, Lucy grinned. ‘We closed the hatch on the underside of the ship as you were coming back in. That trapped it in the pool for the RK900.’<br/>‘You trapped it?’<br/>‘This still is a science ship, Gavin’, Chloe reminded him. ‘What else are we supposed to do? Guess the nerds would kill to dissect the thing or something, but Eli restricted the access. Seems like he is fascinated by it.’</p>
<p>Lucy sighed deeply, but pressed her mouth shut firmly as if forcing herself to remain silent hearing the android’s comment.<br/>‘You really aren’t shitting me?’, Gavin asked.<br/>‘Nope.’<br/>‘Urgh, phck’, he tried to sit up again and this time the pain had already dulled a bit more. ‘Then I really have to see it for myself.’<br/>‘We shouldn’t be rushing that’, the man Gavin suspected to be the doctor said. ‘You are stable, but you should stay here for a few hours.’<br/>‘Don’t worry’, Chloe smiled politely. ‘I’ll make sure he stays here for a while longer.’<br/>Gavin groaned, as the man thanked her and he and Lucy left the room.<br/>‘I’m fine, Chloe, leave me alone.’<br/>‘I have heard Elijah’s stories, I will tell you, when you are fine.’</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Apparently, he was fine three hours later when everyone left to get something to eat. Gavin instead decided to skip it, fled the med-bay and headed towards the hangar. He was still convinced this was some kind of elaborate prank. But when he thought back… The spear that had pierced the window… he had never seen something like that before and there surely wouldn’t be some human down there with it. His Detective senses told him that this was logical evidence that could be explained with the existence of this magical creature. But everything else told him a mermaid was something from fairy tales and imagination. Some things could only be believed when he saw them with his own two eyes.</p>
<p>He walked down the stairs he had taken what felt like maybe an hour ago, but more likely had been half a day ago. He still wasn’t over the fact that he survived being sucked out of a submersible at the sea floor with no chance of returning to the surface. He had been so sure to die down there. But he hadn’t, he thought, his hand resting against the hangar door. He had survived and he was right here right now.</p>
<p>So, he opened the door and examined the giant hall behind it. It was empty. That had to be expected as nearly the whole crew would be up in the mess eating their meals. The stark white lights illuminated the hall and let his eyes land on the back part of the submersible suspended on a crane to be worked on. The part Lucy and Phillip had come up in. It looked weird without the front capsule, the main part of the craft itself. But it was lost on the sea floor, without doubt half buried by the sand by now. Just as he had been supposed to.</p>
<p>That drew his attentions to the two pools. One of them had been covered by a metal net that looked heavy and dipped into the water in the middle. Carefully Gavin walked closer. Out in the open now he again felt out of place. He was supposed to be up in the med-bay and rest, he wasn’t even supposed to be up on his feet. It felt like trespassing. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt that way, he had spent years doing exactly that in his youth for fun and to be honest, most of his work involved it. He tried to shake it off as he walked closer, his curiosity as so often getting the better of him.</p>
<p>He crept near the water tank, risking a look down. He could see the grey of the large trapdoors darkened by the water. But there, in the corner, laid something. On the far corner of the pool, something rested on the ground. Gavin could identify a black shape there, looking like an orca-tail but smaller. These killer whales were far bigger, right? So, what was this down there? He crouched as if that would change his inability to see anything through the murky seawater. It looked small down there, maybe as large as a human would, if not a bit bigger. Impossible to see from the distance. The fluke twitched, then swayed downwards to shift position. Gavin didn’t really think about what he was about to do. He saw the thing moving, that it was alive, and he felt relatively safe. So, he patted the water at the edge of the pool, sending little waves running over the surface until they broke in the net.</p>
<p>He didn’t think the creature could be this fast. In a blur of movement, it had shifted from his position and scaled the entire diagonal of the tank just to crash into the net in front of Gavin full force. The man yelped as he fell on his back and scuttled backwards, staring at the uncannily human face pressed against the net, teeth bared and screeching at an ear-shattering volume. Gavin groaned, pressing his hands on his ears, as the headache he had thought gone reappeared with full force. ‘Holy-‘<br/>‘Gavin!’</p>
<p>The Detective wanted to turn towards the voice that had shouted his name, but was already pulled away from the pool with the creature that had managed to push its clawed hands through the net and scratched at the ground by his feet.<br/>‘Gavin, what the hell are you doing here?’ It was Elijah’s voice, mostly angry and just a bit worried. ‘You are supposed to be in the med-bay!’<br/>Gavin had already found his footing again and pulled himself away, as another screech echoed through the hall, even louder, if such a thing was even possible.<br/>‘Ah, phck, Eli, you can’t tell me you got a goddamn mermaid and expect me to stay put!’<br/>‘Oh, yes I can!’ He grabbed a long pole meant for cleaning the tanks and pushed it through the net to get the creature to back off. ‘I can expect you to stay in your bed after you nearly died and suffered diver’s sickness, goddamnit!’</p>
<p>The creature screeched again but evaded the pole almost elegantly. Elijah managed to drive it back into the corner it had rested in just minutes ago and retracted the tool. He put the pole back against the wall where it had laid, then turned to his brother, jabbing his finger against his collar bone. ‘You will go back to the med-bay! Don’t you have me put guards at your doors!’<br/>‘Eli, holy shit, I’m fine. And I’m your damn brother, not some temporary personnel you can boss around!’<br/>‘But it is my ship’, Elijah reminded him, the threat evident in his tone. ‘I can do whatever I want on here. And I want you out of the Hangar, now!’<br/>‘You goddamn asshole’, Gavin spat. ‘And here I thought you wanted to “get to know” me again. You didn’t change, Eli. You won’t ever change.’<br/>‘Maybe. But this is my specimen and I won’t allow anyone near it, not even you!’<br/>‘Fine. If that means I won’t see you for the rest of the journey, fine by me!’</p>
<p>He shook his head and walked out of the hangar. He should have known better to trust his brother’s intentions. He only played nice until he got something better, something more challenging or more interesting to fuss over. He had always been like that. At least, he knew now that the crew wasn’t lying to him. They had found a live mermaid that had brought Gavin back to the ship. He knew he would have been fascinated by it. Hell, a few years back, he would have killed to see a new species being discovered. But now? He just wanted to get back home and get back to his job. To normalcy.</p>
<p>He had returned to the med-bay afterwards and had been allowed to leave after a few more hours of surveillance. He started to feel the wear and tear from a far too eventful day and decided to head to his cabin. He grabbed a thing to eat from the mess, then headed to bed.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>The next morning came with a sense of calmness. The day before felt like a fever dream to him and he would be far too happy to just let it go. If he ignored his near-death-experience, his brother being an asshole as suspected and a phcking live, real mermaid, he could get back to this trip being a boring ass crusade. Shoving his problems away for later consideration was his go to coping mechanism and he was good at it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the crew didn’t let him:<br/>‘Look who’s back from the dead!’<br/>‘Our fair prince rescued by the mermaid!’<br/>‘How was your little sea adventure?’<br/>Gavin groaned, putting his tray down on the table at the free space they had left for him. He had planned sneaking in and out to eat in quiet and peace, but he hadn’t expected this many people waiting for him.<br/>‘Come on, cut him some slack guys’, Lucy reprimanded James and Phillip. ‘How are you, Gavin?’<br/>‘Fine. Head’s a bit heavy, but now it just feels like I drunk a bit too much last night.’<br/>James laughed. ‘That’s what I thought too, as they told me we had caught a mermaid yesterday. Is it true?’<br/>‘Yup’, Gavin said, raising his glass, but not yet drinking. ‘Snuck into the hangar to see it for myself. Couldn’t believe it either.’<br/>‘You got to it?’, the woman at the far end of the table asked. Gavin still couldn’t remember her name, didn’t even know if she ever told it to him. For all he knew this was the first time she spoke to him personally.<br/>‘Yeah, kinda. Was hard to make out as it was on the bottom of the pool and then it attacked me, but it is there. My brother just threw me out afterwards, so I don’t think I can get in there again.’<br/>‘Shit’, she cursed. ‘Kamski’s guarding the hangar now like he stacked his gold in there or something. I would love to get a look in there. One of the major breakthroughs in marine biology and he keeps it to himself. He doesn’t know the first thing about it, does he?’<br/>‘I don’t think so’, Gavin nodded, adding bitterly: ‘I mean, he is an expert in robotics, but that hardly means he knows how to treat living things.’<br/>‘Agreed’, Phillip grumbled. ‘Couldn’t even get my samples out of the Nines.’<br/>‘The what?’, Gavin asked, giving up by now to ever finish his plate.<br/>‘Oh, that’s how we decided to dub the submersible’, James was happy to explain. ‘RK900 is a bit much and you survived the crash somehow, so, the whole thing with nine lives and all? It fits.’<br/>‘And it sounds nice’, Lucy added. ‘But well, I think we can forget the whole Hangar for now. No submersible means no data, so we have to stick with what we have in the labs. Is there really no way you could convince your brother to let us get a look?’<br/>‘Come on, let the man eat first, before you get to business’, Lucy chuckled, but seemed equally eager for an answer. <br/>Gavin sighed. ‘Fine, I’ll see what I can do. But we are not on good terms, so don’t expect much or anything anytime soon. I… I think I could try sneaking in tonight?’, he offered. ‘I mean, I’m likely the only one to get away with it.’<br/>‘Thanks, Gavin, you are the best!’, Lucy exclaimed, and James patted his shoulder.<br/>Oh, well…</p>
<p>Gavin spend his entire day standing at the railing looking over the endless water and lounging in his cabin flicking through his phone. At least all the symptoms of the decompression sickness had finally faded and only the dull ache where he had crashed into the bulkhead remained. He could live with that, he supposed, wasting his day away. He had planned everything for the night already: dark clothing and a flashlight laid on the chair next to his bed. He hoped that most of the lights would be shut off. But even if not, dark hoodies and trousers were nothing out of the usual for him.</p>
<p>He watched his clock tick away until he finally decided to get up and snoop around a little. He quickly got dressed and walked casually along the corridors. He even took a trip up to the deck to make a show of just having one restless night out of many. But he didn’t meet anyone. Most had to be sleeping or up on the bridge staying on top of everything. All the better for infiltration. He walked down the many stairs that had come to be familiar by now. He stopped in front of the large metal door again, listening for anyone on the other side. He doubted he could have heard a person anyway, but it settled his nerves a bit.</p>
<p>As he opened the door, the hangar was only dimly lit. The whole ship had switched to night mode, meaning everything had been dimmed in the crew quarters, so the light from the hallway didn’t shine into the cabins. Most stairways, the mess and the rest of the ship stayed lit up though. So why was the hangar dark? He listened for any sound but couldn’t hear anything except some trickling of water. Gavin switched on the torch he had taken with him and looked around. Not much had changed from his visit yesterday. The back part of the submersible still hung on the crane; the net was still covering one of the tanks. As he was sure no one was around, he walked up to the pool, this time keeping his distance.</p>
<p>There was movement in the water and Gavin tried to make out anything in the dull light from the doors. His eyes were still adapting to the dark, so all he could see was a black blob swimming in circles under the net. The creature seemed more active now. Gavin shone his light at it, watching how it swam from one corner to the next, touching the cold steel with its far too human hands. Gavin wanted to turn away, maybe take a few pictures and be gone, when the creature noticed him. It looked directly at the light, pushing his eyes closed and baring his teeth at it, propelling itself upwards again to break the surface against the net and screech.</p>
<p>Not expecting the sudden reaction Gavin stumbled back again, dropping the flashlight in the process. He looked up, expecting the thing to claw at him again and noticed a red glow emanating from the water he hadn’t noticed before. Despite knowing better, Gavin stood up and crept closer to the tank again, looking over the edge. The mermaid was floating vertically in the water, looking up. The mermaid’s tail indeed was dark, near total black with a white underbelly. It ended in a humanoid upper body, covered by white and grey bony plates. It clearly wasn’t human, but it looked close enough to be mistaken as such from a distance. Between those plates were glowing lines that pulsated red and Gavin knew he had come too close as the creature hissed at him again and fanned its fins to full size. Gavin noticed two thin tentacles sprouting behind its pectoral fins on either side reminding him of the thin strands a jellyfish might use to stun prey. They were gently waving in the current created by the creature’s movement, but Gavin knew a defensive stance when he saw one, even in an animal.</p>
<p>He quickly held up his hands and walked backwards, more to calm himself. The creature had crashed into the net full force once already, he knew it would hold it back. ‘Hey, relax, fish-face.’<br/>At these words the mermaid’s ears flicked. Or what Gavin would call ears. Thin, fragile looking membrane spanned between bony spikes. Had it heard him?<br/>The creature moved, but it didn’t attack. It was just swimming to the surface, breaching it just enough so its eyes were above the surface. As soon as they were in the air, he saw something retract from them. What were black, iris-less eyes before, now showed grey pupils and the lights on its body flickered yellow for just a second, before settling back on red. Its fins were still splayed widely.<br/>Somehow Gavin thought it may be listening with how it stared at him and remained motionless. Having no clue what to do, he scratched his neck. ‘Hey, err… Thanks for rescuing me, I guess… I don’t know if you can understand me but err… Yeah. Thanks. I’m Gavin?’<br/>The creature looked at him still, ears flicking shortly and fluke occasionally swaying through the water to keep it at the surface. Otherwise, there was no reaction except for the continuous stare Gavin started to get nervous under. Why did he get nervous?<br/>He laughed to himself, to ease his mind a bit. ‘Of course, there is no reaction, what did you expect? It’s an animal. Idiot.’ He shook his head and bowed down to take his flashlight again.</p>
<p>‘Is anyone there?’<br/>Oh shit. Gavin was quick to switch off the flashlight in his hand and bolt for the door, before the guard could see him. That encounter really wasn’t worth angering Eli any further. He closed the door behind him just as the light in the hangar went back on and a deafening screech split the air followed by a splash.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next Chapter:<br/>Elijah has an offer for Gavin.<br/>-<br/>As always, thank you for reading and check out my tumblr @fandom-necromancer for more stories.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Countertrade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This Chapter Gavin has a nice lunch chat with scientists, Elijah tries to reconcile and Gavin and the creature argue over a shoe.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Last Chapter: Gavin woke up in the medbay and snuck into the hangar to see the creature.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gavin yawned extensively as he entered the mess for lunch. It was his only explanation as to how he could have missed the full table in the back. Only as he had shovelled some cold leftovers on his plate to get to the microwave and then was about to leave without anyone noticing, he stopped. He was tired from his nightly adventure and sleeping in didn’t make it any better. As he saw the excited faces of the scientists waiting for him, he groaned and slammed his plate in the microwave. ‘Morning!’, he mumbled a half-hearted greeting. He had just hoped he would get his coffee first.</p>
<p>‘It’s nearly afternoon’, James laughed, clearly fully awake and energetic as ever.<br/>‘I just woke up, so it’s morning for me’, Gavin grumbled, taking the way too hot plate and a mug and walking over to them. ‘Please tell me you made coffee.’<br/>‘Actually, I did’, Lucy grinned and handed the pot over.<br/>Gavin nodded a thanks to her and took it to generously fill his mug.</p>
<p>‘So, tell us, did you manage to get into the Hangar last night?’, Phillip asked curiously.<br/>Gavin sighed. ‘Not even letting me get one bite, huh?’ He chuckled. ‘Yeah, I got in and got a good look on the creature. Well, more of an okay look. What do you want to know?’<br/>‘How does it look like?’, Lucy asked excitedly bouncing her leg. ‘What did it do?’<br/>‘Well, it looks like a mermaid, for once. Or maybe a merman? If that’s possible. It is black on top and white underneath, kind of like an orca? And-‘ His eyes fell on the woman who was the marine biologist on board. ‘Wait, you are writing this down?’<br/>She looked up, as if surprised by the question. ‘Of course. Continue!’<br/>‘Err… right. So, black and white and the upper body seems to consist of bony plates. I didn’t get a good look up close. It was swimming around the tank in circles when I walked in, other than in the afternoon, then it had rested in a corner. Err… Light! Right, I shone my flashlight in the water, and it noticed that, trying to attack me again. But it didn’t move out of the water, just breached the surface. And there seems to be some sort of bioluminescence. It glowed red beneath these bone plates. Also, it fanned its fins, I guess as a defence mechanism? Animals make themselves bigger when threatened, right?’<br/>‘Or when threatening’, the woman muttered, sounding weirdly bored.<br/>‘Hmm, okay. There also were tendrils beginning behind its pectorals. Did I forget something?’ Gavin took a minute to think about the encounter. ‘Hm two sets of eyelids maybe. They were all black in the water, but later they looked more human. Also… Do fish have ears?’</p>
<p>He looked at the woman diligently scribbling in her notebook. But it was Lucy, who answered: ‘Hmm, well, fish don’t really have ears you can see. They have two organs for that. One is the inner ear, similar to our own in function. The second one is the lateral line system that can detect vibrations and water flow. Why do you ask?’<br/>‘Oh, it just did things with something that looked like ears? I spoke to it, don’t know if it understood. Likely not, I mean, it’s an animal.’ He felt a bit self-conscious about talking to it.<br/>‘Maybe not the words, but it likely heard the sounds. Whales relay on sonar to communicate after all and-‘</p>
<p>She abruptly stopped talking as the door to the mess opened. Gavin turned around to find out the reason for the interruption and scowled, as he saw Elijah’s head in the door. They looked at each other for a few moments, neither of them saying a word, until Elijah cleared his throat.<br/>'Gavin, could I talk with you after you finished lunch?'<br/>In the total silence that followed, Gavin clenched his teeth, before sighing exasperated. ‘Yeah, sure. On deck?’<br/>Elijah nodded, then disappeared again.</p>
<p>‘Shit, do you think he knows?’, James asked.<br/>‘Maybe’, Gavin shrugged, finally taking to his meal. ‘Though I don’t think anyone saw me. There are no cameras in there, and the guard came in when I was already gone. But still, if Eli knows one thing about me, it’s that I’m nosey as hell.’<br/>‘Well, at least we have something to go off on, if he does know of it’, the woman said more to herself than to anyone at the table.<br/>Gavin ate in silence, while the scientists around him spoke about what snippets Gavin had told them.<br/>Gavin listened to it not really paying attention. So far, they had only discussed the possibility of the creature being nocturnal and speculated about how it might live and what its habitat would be. Gavin had finished eating when they started to drift off into deep discussion about temperature, current and possible migrations and the Detective decided to slip off the grid to face whatever Elijah held in check for him.</p>
<p>As promised, Gavin found him on deck, leaned against the railing. It was a surprisingly warm day and the wind was caught by the bridge where his brother stood. Gavin joined him making sure his face depicted exactly how he felt about talking to him. He hadn’t forgotten what Elijah had spat into his face and he definitely wouldn’t do so any time soon. <br/>‘What do you want, Elijah?’, he scoffed, laying his hands on the railing next to him, but facing the open ocean instead of the ship itself.<br/>‘I wanted to apologise.’<br/>‘Well, that’s a phcking surprise if I ever see one. Since when do you apologise to anyone?’<br/>‘Since when do you socialise with scientists immediately after waking up?’<br/>‘Hey, there isn’t much else to do, okay?’<br/>‘I know, I get it’, Elijah gave in. ‘I’m sorry I shouted at you like that. I wanted to mend wounds on this trip, not rip new ones.’<br/>‘Well, old habits die hard’, Gavin commented, gripping the railing stronger. He had expected a defensive statement from Elijah they would start fighting over again, but instead, his brother deflated: ‘Yeah, I guess they do… I’m sorry, I wanted to spend time with you. I really did, but then this creature appeared and… well, you know what happens when I get fascinated by something. I should have thought more about your wellbeing.’<br/>‘Are you talking about yesterday or about our childhood?’, Gavin taunted.<br/>Elijah just grunted, avoiding the question entirely.<br/>‘Look, I know I had way too many chances already, but will you give me another one?’<br/>The Detective took a deep breath. ‘Fine. How do you plan on spending it?’<br/>‘Would you want to see the creature?’</p>
<p>‘What?’ Gavin exclaimed and turned around to face his brother. ‘How would that help in any way?’<br/>‘Gavin, I know I won’t be able to talk it out with you. That’s just not our thing. But if we spend time together for a while, discuss our progress with it, maybe that would work? We both know I won’t be the brother you expect me to be, it is way too late for that and you won’t suddenly be happy about conversations. Let’s try it that way then. Besides, you know more about the sea than me and from what I’ve seen, you are curious about it.’<br/>Gavin shook his head. ‘Eli, you don’t really think this would work, right? We are just ignoring what happened and press on. That never works.’<br/>‘But isn’t that your go-to-coping mechanism?’<br/>He got him with that. ‘Oh, phck you, doesn’t mean I don’t know it doesn’t work! But yeah, fine, let’s try it.’<br/>‘Perfect!’, his brother cheered. ‘Then come, there’s work to do!’<br/>‘You mean right now?’<br/>‘When else? You said it yourself, there isn’t much else to do.’</p>
<p>'You do know I've just watched a lot of documentaries and read some articles, right?', Gavin asked as they were walking down the stairway towards the hangar. 'And you know you have people up there who are far more qualified than me?'<br/>'So that they kill and dissect it? No thank you.'<br/>Elijah opened the door to the hangar and let Gavin inside before locking the door again. <br/>‘And you don’t want to do that?’<br/>Elijah shrugged. ‘No. Of course not. I mean… I still had plans to reopen the Belle Isle Aquarium, you know? We bought it and demolished it to build the tower. I always planned to rebuild it on another part of the island, but never did. Why not start off the new Cyberlife with a real banger? A rebuild aquarium with a life mermaid, no fakes, no machine. Everyone would come to see that!’<br/>‘Really? You just want to make money off of it?’, Gavin laughed shaking his head.<br/>‘No! I mean, yes, in the long term. But mainly image polishing. I still get hate mail from that stunt.’</p>
<p>Gavin chuckled at the mildly annoyed tune. ‘Urgh, you really are my brother… Thought you had changed there for a second.’<br/>‘Heh, yeah. Anyways, here we are... Needless to say, I trust you not to do anything’, Elijah said, looking Gavin in the eyes.<br/>‘What even would I do?’, Gavin shrugged, walking a few steps closer to the tank covered by the net.<br/>‘I don’t know’, Elijah sighed. ‘It looks human enough. Had the same problem with androids… people sympathising with them…’<br/>‘I mean they were right. They were alive in the end.’<br/>‘Yeah but not at the start… That’s beside the point. Come on.’</p>
<p>Elijah took the pole from the wall and approached with Gavin following him. He looked over the edge and found the creature just where it had laid last night. It was resting on the floor, barely visible through the sea water.<br/>‘Is that normal?’, Gavin asked. ‘It just lying there?’<br/>‘Oh, I taught it that. It’s a technique I read about once, thought I could try it out as well. You basically bother an animal everywhere you don’t want it to be and leave it alone where you want it to be. Do this long enough and it will seek out the spot. It will only move out if allowed or given the signal.’<br/>‘And that works? What the hell?’ Gavin peered down on the figure. ‘What did you find out so far?’<br/>‘It’s highly aggressive and it has gills.’<br/>‘Wow okay, I guess I really can help you.’<br/>‘Hey, I don’t work with living things often, okay?’, Elijah tried to defend himself.<br/>‘Yeah, fine, call it. Make it leave its place.’</p>
<p>His brother nodded and let the tip of the pole fall on the metal net, making it rattle. That did bring the creature to live as it swirled around and jolted to the surface, immediately shooting for the edge and using its momentum to smash into the net, clawing the ground through it. Elijah immediately had the pole up and pushed the creature in the chest. ‘Back up, fish!’<br/>The creature did get back into the pool but didn’t retreat into the corner. Instead in one quick motion it grabbed the end of the pole and pulled.<br/>With shock Gavin saw how his brother lost his balance and stumbled towards the pool. He reacted instinctively, grabbing him by the shirt, but that didn’t keep the inventor on his feet, only hindered him from falling in. His foot hit the net and the creature used its chance to dig its claws into the shoe, then Elijah’s pant leg. The man screamed as they dug through and Gavin pulled him back with all his force. The creature lost its grip on the pants but managed to pull his shoe off. Gavin pulled him out of the creature’s range and immediately crouched to look at Eli’s leg. The cuts weren’t deep, but they bled a lot. ‘Shit, you have to go to the med-bay with this. One or two of them could use stitches.’<br/>‘Since when are you a phcking doctor?’<br/>‘Eli, I work as a police officer. I have to see such things a lot. Can you walk?’<br/>‘Yes.’<br/>‘Good then go, I’ll try to get your shoe back.’</p>
<p>He watched his brother limp out of the hangar and shook his head at the ‘Be careful’, the idiot left him with. Phcking hypocrite. Right as the man shut the door, Gavin turned to the pool again and was nearly hit with the pole that had been thrown out of it. It landed directly next to Gavin’s feet and he looked back to the tank. The mermaid was staring at him, pulling its lips past its teeth and screeching at him again. Its eyes were completely black and scrunched together. Gavin thought of the last night when they had shifted to something looking more human. He scratched his chin, then picked up the pole. Immediately the creature hissed at him but keeping out of its reach he just hissed back annoyed. This damn high pitch made his head hurt. The creature recoiled at that, but Gavin ignored it. He was taking the pole to the wall putting it back in its place, then he went to shut off the lights and pulled out his phone so he could still see.</p>
<p>In the darkness he could already make out the red glow emanating from the water. But as he had thought, the dark membrane had retracted. ‘Doesn’t like light’, he mumbled to himself. The creature didn’t screech again and pushed its head out of one of the holes in the net to look at him. Gavin looked down to its hands that still held the shoe.<br/>Gavin pointed at it. ‘Hey, I need that back.’<br/>The creatures ears flicked again at the sound and then followed his finger to its chest and the shoe. Then back at Gavin. He sighed, pointed at the shoe again, then held out his hand and pointed at his palm. The creature blinked at him. Gavin repeated the gesture. It had understood his fingers meant pointing at something, but apparently it didn’t go far enough. So, Gavin decided to hop on one leg until he got his own shoe in hand. He showed it to the creature, pointed to the one it held and then to his. Then he placed his shoe in his palm.</p>
<p>He repeated the motions from before and the glow from the creature turned yellow. Then it swam up, far slower than before. It extended its hand with Elijah’s shoe in hand. Surprised it had actually worked, Gavin carefully leant forwards, ready to jolt back at any possible attack. But there was none so far. Gavin could grasp the soggy piece, but as he pulled, the creatures grip tightened. It hissed at him again and extended his own hand to point at Gavin’s shoe. Then he held out his hand. The Detective sighed, knowing full well this was the only pair of shoes he brought. But this was the first successful interaction, so he would have to sacrifice something if he didn’t want all progress lost. Regretting his choice already, he placed his shoe in the other’s hand and the grip on Elijah’s loosened. Immediately the creature retreated with its new treasure and swam a few laps.</p>
<p>Gavin watched it for a while, then shook out Elijah’s wet shoe. ‘Yeah, have your fun with it. What I wouldn’t do for my brother…’</p>
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